For October half term, my family and I headed to Warsaw for a great value family break. When I told friends of mine with children, I could see they were wondering what made us choose this for a holiday with a 7 and 9-year-old but it actually had a lot to offer all the family and we had a fun-packed 4 nights there.
After booking some super cheap flights from Birmingham, we found a great apartment on Airbnb in the Old Town. Although not the original, the Old Town has been rebuilt to its former glory and we spent the first day exploring its winding cobblestone streets, ornate tenement facades and picturesque squares. There was plenty to keep the children happy with street entertainers and even a group of break dancers which certainly impressed them and yummy waffles and candyfloss which went down a treat. Although fairly extortionate at around £30 for 20 minutes, we also treated them to a horse and cart ride which was a lovely way to appreciate the Old Town and get our bearings. We then sat in the beautiful market square lined with elaborately decorated burgher houses and enjoyed the sounds of a wonderful violinist. In the evening, we headed to Restauracja Pod Zegarem which served delicious Polish food in a traditional setting at great prices and the staff were great with the kids.
The next day we made our way out of the Old Town to explore the rest of Warsaw. The trams and metro were cheap and easy to use and the children found this a great novelty. First stop was the Warsaw Rising Museum. Although deeply harrowing at times, this museum provides an interesting insight into how Poland fought back in World War II and Warsaw’s residents’ efforts to free the city. The exhibits were very interactive making it easy for children to engage themselves with the subject. The 3D film on how Warsaw Old Town was destroyed, the replica of a Liberator B-24J bomber and crawling through the sewers brought this terrible time in history to life. After lunch, we stopped in Lazienki Park. We had heard great things about it and were not disappointed. Visiting at the end of October, the park was glowing with yellow and orange leaves and it was a joy to wander through, watching the red squirrels dart up and down the trees. For dinner that night, we enjoyed a lively evening at Podwale 25 restaurant. Just outside of the Barbican walls, this fun restaurant offers hearty polish food and a good children’s menu with the added bonus of live folk music to keep them entertained.
To fill a rather wet and windy day, we paid a visit to the Copernicus Science Centre. I have to say it certainly rivals London Science Museum and others I have visited in the UK. With two floors of interactive experiments and an excellent planetarium, it was easy to spend the whole day there. All of the exhibits have English explanations and provided much amusement for adults and children alike. They loved seeing mummy’s hair standing up on end in the electricity demonstration.
On our final day we visited Warsaw zoo which is around 15 minutes by tram from the Old Town. This was a great value day out at this time of year at around £15 for a family ticket. The zoo is set in attractive grounds with an abundance of autumn colours on the treelined paths. We have visited many zoos in Europe and were all impressed with the range of animals from Polar Bears, Elephants and Crocodiles to big cats including Jaguars, cheetahs and Lions. There were also some great indoor areas to escape the cold with spiders, snakes and hippos to name a few. The children loved watching the mummy and baby sloth. Also, worth a visit whilst at the zoo is Villa Zabinski. After watching the film ‘The Zookeepers Wife’, we were all keen to appreciate the incredibly moving story of how Jan and Antonina Zabinski hid several hundred Jews throughout World War II in their home.
We saved the Royal Castle for Wednesday when it offers free entrance. We made our way through fairly quickly but both parents and children were impressed with the magnificent Great Assembly Hall, which has been restored to its 18th-century decor of dazzling gilded stucco and golden columns. The stunning ceiling painting, The Disentanglement of Chaos, a postwar re-creation of a work by Marcello Bacciarelli was incredible. The Lanckoroński Collection – Gallery of Paintings, Sculpture and the Decorative Arts was also worth a visit with two Rembrandt masterpieces on display.
Warsaw is a great city to visit with older children and very educational without them knowing. Often overshadowed by Krakow, it doesn’t have the volume of tourists but to me this made it all the more fascinating and gave us a slice of the real Poland.
Fam Full of Wanderlust 